Saturday, June 11, 2005

A Growing Chinese Threat?

AJStrata has been on the story of what he sees as a shocking lapse in security regarding the buildup of Chinese arms, specifically, a seemingly willful ignorance on the part of the Clinton Administration that makes him wonder what other areas we might have played dumb in. Now, Investor's Business Daily (hat tip to RealClearPolitics) is warning of some ominous signs. The key passage:

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in previewing the annual report to Congress on Chinese military power, noted Beijing's increased military expenditures and weapons buys from Russia and others. "Since no nation threatens China," he said, "one must wonder: Why this growing investment? Why these continuing large and expanding arms purchases? Why these continuing robust deployments?"

China is the elephant in the room that some want to pretend isn't there. We forget the simple demographic reality that one in three people in the world could be Chinese by 2050. At its current rate of growth, China will surpass the U.S. as the world's largest economy in the next 30 years.